Lee Moriarty Defends ROH Pure Championship, Eyes Return to 1 All In Card

Q: Why was the longest-reigning champion in ROH history left off AEW's biggest card of the year?

There is no reported backstage reason that Lee Moriarty was “left off” AEW All In beyond standard booking choices and roster depth. Moriarty himself framed it that way, saying opportunities in pro wrestling often come down to timing and preparation, and that his job is to keep working until the opening comes. That makes his absence notable, because he is not just another undercard wrestler. He is the reigning ROH Pure Champion and, by his own recent accounting and supporting ROH title history, the longest-reigning men’s Pure champion in company history, with a reign stretching well past two years. He also has recent momentum, including a title defense against Katsuyori Shibata at Death Before Dishonor, and he worked last year’s All In in an eight-man tag. Even so, All In is being presented as AEW’s biggest annual show and this year’s Wembley card is crowded with established AEW title programs and marquee singles matches. The promotion has centered the event on headline attractions such as Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay and Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné, while also filling the show with major championship bouts, the Continental Cup final, and the Casino Gauntlet. In that environment, ROH champions without a defined AEW storyline can be squeezed out. So the best answer is that Moriarty was not excluded for any publicly known disciplinary or political reason; he appears to have been a victim of a packed card and AEW’s prioritization of bigger ongoing Wembley storylines.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 27

Last weekend, Lee Moriarty retained the ROH Pure Championship against Katsuyori Shibata at Death Before Dishonor, extending his run even as he sits off Sunday’s All In 2026 card.
Sunday’s Wembley show still has Moriarty’s attention: he singled out 2 title bouts — Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay and Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné — as the card’s marquee matches.
Moriarty said those pairings stand out because of their long-running rivalries, citing Omega-Ospreay’s past meetings and Moné-Nightingale’s history across New Japan Strong and the TBS title scene.
1 previous All In appearance came last year in an eight-man tag loss, and Moriarty said getting back to the event will require continued work, preparation and better timing.